Taking the stress out of headache
by Vincent Ciccarello
A
heat bag, hot bath or a soothing massage may be popular ways to relieve
what are commonly known as tension-type headaches, or TTH, the kind that
accounts for about 80 per cent of all headaches.
But, after 30 years of research, the causes of tension-type headaches – and why some things offer relief – remain largely unknown.
The commonly held view that tension-type headaches are the result of sustained contraction of muscles around the head, neck and shoulders isn’t supported by scientific evidence.
Recent research suggests the answer may lie in how stress affects the way the central nervous system processes pain in TTH sufferers. It’s this theory Stuart Cathcart, a PhD student in UniSA’s School of Psychology, has set out to test.
"Stress is known to trigger and exacerbate headaches, however, it is unclear how this happens," Cathcart said. "Research on animals and healthy people shows that stress affects pain processing throughout the central nervous system. But there is no research to date examining if this is how stress affects TTH sufferers.
"We’re trying to see if stress contributes to headache activity in these people by increasing the pain sensitisation in the central nervous system."
Cathcart said researchers overseas have looked separately at the neurophysiology, neuropharmacology and psychology of headaches, all with a view to improving treatment.
"But no one has brought these areas together. That’s where we come in," he said.
If Cathcart’s research shows that stress does, in fact, affect pain processing in the central nervous system, the next stage will be to determine exactly where. And already there are clues.
"We know input from 80 per cent of the nerves around the neck, head and shoulders all converge on one nucleus in the brain," Cathcart said. "And it’s not just input from muscles – it also receives input from the areas involved in stress and thought, and from the vascular system. We think it’s the combined activity of that input that triggers the pain.
"It may be that reducing any of these varying inputs is enough to reduce your sensitivity back below the threshold below which it becomes painful."
Research
Participants Needed
Research participants are needed for a project examining headache psychophysiology, being conducted by UniSA School of Psychology.
We need people who regularly suffer headaches as well as people who never or rarely experience a headache.
Participants may be assigned to one of the following studies:
In Study 1, participants will have their sensitivity to stress and pain assessed in a laboratory procedure lasting up to two hours. They will also receive a chart to take home and record headaches over a 24 hour period.
In Study 2, participants will have sensitivity to pain
assessed twice during the year, once during a low stress period (mid term),
and again during a high stress period (exam weeks). They will also keep a
two-week headache diary on both occasions.
Participants will be financially compensated:
$20 for completing Study 1
$30 for completing Study 2
For more information please contact Stuart Cathcart at stuartcathcart@hotmail.com or on 0438 002151